Olympic Hopefuls
by LuckyxLabradoodlexLoverx7
Summary: AU: Follow ten people as they hope to compete in the Olympics. You'll meet potential Olympians from America, Canada, Spain, Italy, England, Austria, Australia, Germany, Ireland and Argentina. Witness their triumphs, tribulations and the amazing friendships they form, despite from being from around the world. Rated T because I'm paranoid. Takes place in 2012.
1. Roger, part 1

Disclaimer – I own nothing of RENT or the Olympics. They belong to their respected owners. I can say that I own my original characters (coaches, teammates, parents, etc) and the plot. 'Nuff said.

_**Italics **_are thoughts and flashbacks.

A/N: In honor of the Olympics going on now, I decided to write this story. No idea how long its gonna be, so bear with me. Will update my chapter stories, so don't worry. I don't know much about qualifying for the Olympics, so I'm making most of it up. In the spirit of the Olympics, it takes place in London.

A/N 2: The competitors and their location:

Roger – America – Equestrian

Angel – Canada – Tennis

Mimi – Spain – Swimming

April – Italy – Archery

Alison – England – Gymnastics

Joanne – Austria – Track

Mark – Australia – Volleyball

Benny – Germany – Water Polo

Collins – Ireland – Basketball

Maureen – Argentina – Soccer

Summary: AU: Follow nine children as they hope to compete in the Olympics. You'll meet potential Olympians from America, Canada, Spain, Italy, England, South Africa, Australia, Germany, Ireland and Argentina. Witness their triumphs, tribulations and the amazing friendships they form, despite from being from around the world. Rated T because I'm paranoid. Takes place in 2012.

Genre: Friendship/None

Rating: T

* * *

CHAPTER ONE  
(chapter title – Roger, part 1)

"Now riding for the American team, number 01127 Roger Davis riding Prima Donna." A voice announced as I entered the arena. I could hear thousands of cheering fans as I waved to them. I still can't believe that I was riding for the American team in the 2012 Olympics in London. This was my first Olympics and all twenty-three-years of me were nervous, but I didn't let it show, because then Prima Donna would be nervous and wouldn't clear the jumps properly.

The bell ringing for the routine to begin sounded, startling me out of my daydream. Everything we worked for led up to this moment and I could not afford to mess it up. If I did, my coach, Tony, would absolutely kill me.

I was competing in the finals – to see who would win the gold, silver and bronze medal. The American equestrian team had already won a gold and bronze. I had won a silver for individual dressage, along with my dressage horse, Grenade.

"And it's a clear round for Roger Davis! He has the best time of the afternoon!" the person on the loudspeaker announced. The audience was on their feet, chanting my last name. I smiled and pulled Prima to a trot and waved to everyone as I exited the arena. I nodded to the German rider as she entered the arena riding a beautiful black horse. It was America, Germany and Greece competing for the medals.

I stood in the aisle way, straining my ears to hear the results. The next thing I knew, I heard the Americans in the audience cheering and applauding. I grinned, mounted Prima and cantered out of the aisle way.

As the official placed the medal around my neck, I thought about the first time I rode a horse. I was three-years-old at the time.

_My three-year-old self watched my ten-year-old sister, Grace, ride her Irish Thoroughbred mare named Gwen. I really wanted to ride, but I had to be four before I could ride by myself. Luckily for me, today was my birthday. My wish for my birthday was to ride a horse, which was unusual_

_A moment later, Grace's riding instructor, Rose, came towards me. She was leading a storm-gray pony under English tack. Rose smiled and led the pony to the mounting block. Mom held my hand as Rose helped me onto the pony._

"_Roger, meet Holly." Rose told me. Holly turned her head towards me, revealing a kind brown eye. I smiled and hugged her neck. Rose helped me sit up and led me around the arena, Mom walking next to me._

_When I turned six, I outgrew Holly and started riding a bay Welsh Pony gelding named Sarge. Sarge and I became great friends – I was learning how to jump and could do a little dressage. Rose had entered me in my first horse show at the end of the week, so I was preparing for it. She had entered me in the walk/trot class, but I was too advanced for that. She had entered me in Baby Green – the beginning jumping class. She felt that Sarge and I were ready._

_She was right – we took first place in Baby Green and second place in Showmanship. I was extremely happy with Sarge and honestly thought he was the best pony, besides Holly._

_A year later, I decided to give up horses for a while – I met some new friends at school and they wanted me to play football and baseball with them. They claimed that anything to do with horses was considered girly. That made me mad, but I decided to let it slide._

_After a while, I got bored of my new friends and considered the horses I knew and loved. Rose was angry that I took some time off and made me shovel out stalls and groom horses instead of riding._

_Two years later, at ten-years-old, I went through a growth spurt and was now too tall for ponies. I was now riding a pure white Arabian mare named Ghost. Ghost was excellent at dressage, but hated jumping. I loved jumping more than dressage, but I would never admit it out loud._

_After three attempts to go over a double oxer, Ghost threw me. She bolted around the arena while I cradled my right arm. Rose chased after Ghost while Grace came over to me. She was now sixteen and had gotten her license a week ago._

_I couldn't ride horses for two months, which I was not happy about. In those two months, I focused on my schoolwork, which I had fallen behind on._

_Two months later, I was back on the newest horse – a reddish-brown Purcheron/Thoroughbred gelding named Grenade. He was Rose's dressage horse, but she was expecting a baby, so she couldn't ride him. After my lesson, Rose walked with me while I cooled down Grenade._

"_I talked to your mother and found out your birthday is next week." Rose started. Usually, we would talk about my lesson and what I liked and didn't like._

"_So?"_

"_I was thinking about selling Grenade, but after I saw you ride him – if it's okay with your mother – I would like to give him to you for a present." Rose told me._

_I felt honored that she would give her prized dressage horse to me – a scrawny ten – almost eleven – year old boy._

"_There's another thing." Rose said, tears in her eyes. "A friend of mine has a training barn in Michigan. I think you have potential to be on the Olympics and she can help you more than I can."_

"_Y-You mean I would have to leave Florida and move to Michigan?" I asked. Rose nodded. "Do my mother and Grace know?"_

_Rose nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks. I had lived in Florida all my life and wasn't about to go ahead and pack up everything I love._

_Mom and Grace eventually talk me into going to live with Rose's friend in Michigan. On the eve of my thirteenth birthday, I packed up all my stuff, got Grande into the one-horse trailer and drove with mom to Michigan._

_Rose was right – her friend, Mia, made sure I rode the best dressage patterns and told me what I was doing wrong. She would often demonstrate this by having me dismount Grenade and show me how to do the dressage moves on him. I would often smile, get back on Grenade and try my best to mimic what Mia was teaching me._

"_You still need a jumper." Mia told me. I nodded and walked with her down the long aisle of the barn. On one side of the aisle were the jumpers. On the other side were the dressage horses._

_I tried three different jumpers – King Midas, Fools Gold and Prima Donna. I didn't connect with the other two like I did with Prima Donna. I found her rhythm right away and knew what she liked and what she didn't like._

_Prima Donna is a fifteen-year-old chestnut Dutch Warmblood mare. She has a narrow blaze running down her face that ends in a snip at the end of her nose. She also has two front socks. She stands 16 hands at her withers._

"_I feel a connection between Prima and I." I told Mia one afternoon after I was done riding Prima Donna. Mia smiled and patted Prima's shoulder._

"_I know you two will make an excellent team." She told me as I walked Prima around the arena. I had been riding since 5:45 in the morning. It was now close to 9:00 at night._

_When I was sixteen, an Olympic official showed up one day at the barn. I was riding Grenade at the time and was working on extremely difficult dressage pattern. As I trotted down the center of the arena, the official caught my eye._

"_Looking good." The official told me as I finished the pattern. I smiled and bowed to her. She smiled and had me come over. Grenade's ears were pricked forward – I'm sure he was curious about this newcomer as I was._

"_Did Mia ever talk to you about riding in the Olympics?" The official – Sandra – asked me. I nodded my head – she had trained some of the top riders in the state. "I think if you improve on your dressage, you might have a shot at the Olympics."_

"_Really?" I asked, my heart thudding loudly in my chest. This was every horse lover's dream come true – to ride in the Olympics. Sandra smiled and nodded._

"_May I pet your horse?" she asked. I nodded and told her a little about Grenade. She smiled at him then smiled at me. "He's really stunning."_

"_Thank you." I thanked her. I dismounted and looked over my shoulder – Mia was putting four jumps together. She was setting up two oxers – one wide, one narrow; a water jump and a vertical. I quickly untacked Grenade as Sammy – Mia's daughter – brought in Prima Donna._

_After a moment of talking quietly to Prima Donna, I mounted her and walked her around the edge of the arena. I didn't want her to go over the jumps – I wasn't ready for that yet._

"_Roger, eyes forward and two-point three strides before she jumps." Mia instructed as Prima and I galloped around the arena. I went into the two-point position as Prima approached the water jump – her favorite. I felt as though she had sprouted wings as we soared over the jumps._

_The official smiled and wrote something down in her notebook. She then shook Mia's hand, then mine. Finally, she patted Prima on the shoulder before exiting the barn._

_I went to Eaton Rapids for the Olympic qualifying test and passed both of them with flying colors. I also met the other three people who had qualified as well – Mandy, Skylar and Dylan. The three of them were horse-crazy triplets who accepted me as another valued member of the team._

_I also got to meet their horses – Surfer and Dixie (Mandy's horses), Sugar and Katniss (Skylar's horses) and Love Never Dies and Sunny Side of Life (Dylan's horses)._

_I knew the four of us would be great friends._

"Roger!" a familiar voice called as I headed to the volleyball arena. I turned around and saw Mandy cantering to catch up with me. I smiled at her and waited for her to catch up before we started walking.

"Hey Mandy! Great round today." I told her, stopping occasionally to pose for photographs or sign autographs.

"Thanks. I think that Surfer spooked a little at the water jump." Mandy said. I shook my head.

"I think Surfer was great – you steered him a little too far to the left at the final jump, but other than that, excellent round." I told her.

"So, where are you off to?" she asked, pulling her ink-black hair into a ponytail.

"I was gonna watch some men's volleyball. It's Australia versus Italy. A friend I met at the opening ceremonies – Mark – is playing on the Australian team." I told her.

"Sounds like fun." She told me. Both of us showed our badges to the gate operator. He smiled at us and told us to sit anywhere. We found a spot close to the action and sat down.

At the opening ceremonies, I had met eight other individuals from all around the world – Angel was from Canada and she played tennis; Mimi was from Spain and she swam; April was from Italy and she did archery; Alison was from England and she did gymnastics; Joanne was from Austria and she ran track; Mark was from Australia and he played volleyball; Benny was from Germany and he played water polo; Collins was from Ireland and he played basketball; Maureen was from Argentina and she played soccer.

When I wasn't riding, I went to go support my friends in their sports. When I did dressage, I saw April, Collins, Benny, Joanne and Angel in the stands, cheering their loudest for me.

Australia ended up winning the match – 21 to 13. I liked how the teams hugged each other after their matches. That was true friendship and team spirit right there.

After the match, Mandy, Mark and I went to get sodas then took a ride in the London Eye. It was beautiful, especially when we got stopped at the top. I took pictures of my friends and the scenery below me.

I wanted to stay in the London Eye and didn't want to leave – London was so beautiful and there's so much that I want to learn and explore.

I'm now in my hotel room, which I share with Dylan. He's Skyping with his family while I'm reading my book. I haven't gotten much of a chance to read while I'm here in England.

The following morning, I have nothing planned, so I decided to go see Joanne compete in some track events. It rained half the day, which the eventers and spectators were not happy about.

Rain or sun, I want to support my new friends, no matter what the weather is like.


	2. Angel, part 1

CHAPTER TWO  
(chapter title – Angel, part 1)

"Great game." I told my opponent, Aya Komochewan – a German girl. She huffed and walked off the court. I had beaten her by a lot and was trying to be nice about it. It wasn't my fault she was a sore loser.

I walked off the court, swinging my racket at my side. This was the third game in a row that I had won. I had beaten my other competitors pretty badly. I guess you could say that I'm competitive on the court, but off the court, I'm pretty friendly.

I had been playing tennis since I can remember and it was my favorite sport in the entire world. I have friends in other sports and support them as well. I had met eight other competitors during opening ceremonies and have watched all of them compete.

This was my third Olympics and was rather proud to be here.

I remember the first time I picked up a racket – I was two-years-old.

_I watched my mother play tennis in our backyard in Toronto. I was two-years-old and was extremely curious as to what she was doing. Mother smiled at me and motioned me over. I waddled over so I could get a better look._

"_Wanna play?" Mother asked. I nodded and picked up the heavy racket. Mother laughed and shook her head. She handed me a child-sized racket and showed me how to swing. I wasn't very good, but with mother coaching me, I got better._

_My older sister, Michelle, became my coach when I got older. We all played tennis in my family, and if you didn't want to, too bad. Michelle was an excellent coach and I listened to every word she said._

_I was eight-years-old when I played my first match. I lost to a girl named Mallory. She was friendly to me and didn't gloat like other people might have. All she said to me was 'good game'. I smiled and thanked her, not handling my first loss well._

_After my loss to Mallory, I played and trained harder and longer. Michelle thought I was pushing myself too hard, but I didn't care. I sprained my elbow when I was ten and again when I was twelve. I couldn't pick up a racket for four months._

_I was finally well enough to play tennis – my love, my life, my everything. I won eight matches in a row after healing from my injuries. I was thirteen-years-old and was like a lioness after the kill – willing and able for anything._

_After a few years of maturing and training, a friend of mine asked me to go to the Olympics with her. I told her I would and I fell in love with watching the tennis players. They were sleek, agile, fast and focused. All the things I was._

_I found out from that same friend that her mom was on the Olympic committee to pick the future Olympians. I practiced with Michelle and felt I was focused and ready to go._

_I went to my first Olympics and won a bronze, gold and bronze. I was happy with my medals and found a special place for them when I got home. Four years later, I went to my second Olympics in Beijing and took home a gold, gold and silver medal. I put them in the special place with my other medals._

_This year, in London, I had won a gold and bronze. I had one more event the following day that I wanted to win so badly. I was playing someone from the Netherlands. _

As I entered the arena, I felt the sweat pour down my face. It was a beautiful sunny day and I could hear the crowd screaming and cheering loudly. I took a swig of water and went to the center of the court to shake hands with my opponent. I looked up and saw seven of my nine friends up in the stands, all of them waving a Canadian flag. I smiled at them then turned my attention back to the game.

I ended up winning the match. I smiled at my opponent and shook her hand. She frowned and stormed off the court. I looked to my friends in the stands. They were cheering and screaming the loudest.

I went to the dressing room and changed into some street clothes. My friends were already at the athlete's entrance, showering me with flowers and compliments. I smiled at them and the eight of us went to the London Eye. As we waited in line, I noticed that Roger wasn't with us.

"Where did Roger go?" I asked my friends.

"He vent to zee barns. Don't know vhy." Benny spoke up. I sighed and wished that Roger would spend some time with us other than his horses.

He caught up with us just as we headed to Buckingham Palace. He smiled and joined our little group.

"Where've you been?" I asked, taking picture after picture of my friends with the guards outside the palace. April and Mimi stood on either side of one and kissed his cheeks. The guard didn't move, not even an inch.

"Down at the barns. My coach wanted to go over a few things with me before I go for training tomorrow." He told us. Tomorrow, Roger, along with Grenade, would be competing in the team dressage event.

"Break a luck!" Maureen told Roger. All of us laughed, in a good way, at her. "What is with the laughing?"

"Honey, it's either 'break a leg' or 'good luck'." I told her. She looked down at the ground, her ears turning pink. "It's okay, sweetie."

After that, the incident was behind us. Today was an odd day for us – none of us were competing, so we decided to check out the men's rowing. As we walked down to the water field, Roger, Mark and Benny stopped in their tracks. I followed their gaze to a familiar woman smiling at the crowd.

"That's J.K. Rowling!" Alison squealed. All eight of us turned and looked at her, as though she had never seen another British person before. "What? I was just pointing out the author of the Harry Potter books! She's just standing in the middle of the sidewalk and I need – no – want – to meet her."

All nine of us walked up to the author, squealing like school children. J.K. smiled at us as we walked over to her. She seemed to be used to having random strangers come up to her.

"Hi Ms. Rowling. I'm such a huge fan and I've read all the Harry Potter books, well obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be standing here talking to you. It's so exciting talking to you." Alison rambled, producing her copy of the fifth Harry Potter book. "Would you sign my book for me, please?"

J.K. smiled and giggled. Her giggle warmed my heart – something about standing four feet away from a famous person made me giddy all of a sudden.

"Are all of you competing in the Olympics?" she asked as she finished signing Alison's book. All of us nodded. "Well, I wish all of you the best of luck."

That night, I couldn't stop pinching myself – it's like I had won a great tennis match and was meeting the great Stéphanie Dubois. That's what compared to meeting J.K. Rowling.

"Angel, rest up – you have a big match tomorrow." Michelle told me. I groaned and got ready for bed. I knew she was right – I did have a big important match tomorrow.

The following morning, I got up and got ready to go out onto the court. I adjusted my tennis skirt and took a few deep breaths. Something about playing this important game made me nervous – I never got nervous.

I ended up winning the match and a gold medal. I felt like I was on top of the world and nothing could pull me down.


	3. Mimi, part 1

**Hello everyone! I hope you're enjoying Olympic Hopefuls so far!**

**I just want to do a quick A/N to let you know about what's gonna happen with this story.**

**1) the order of the chapters:  
**

**chap. 1) Roger's point of view  
chap. 2) Angel's point of view  
chap. 3) Mimi's point of view  
chap. 4) April's point of view  
chap. 5) Alison's point of view  
chap. 6) Joanne's point of view  
chap. 7) Mark's point of view  
chap. 8) Benny's point of view  
chap. 9) Collins' point of view  
chap. 10) Maureen's point of view**

**each chapter will repeat twice, so i'll have a total of 20 chapters, once this story is finished.**

**It seems in the summary, i messed up a few things - here's where all the athletes are from:**

**Roger - America  
Angel - Canada  
Mimi - Spain  
April - Italy  
Alison - England  
Joanne - Austria  
Mark - Australia  
Benny - Germany  
Collins - Ireland  
Maureen - Argentina**

**that's about it, so i'll leave you guys & girls to read the story, instead of this long author's note.**

**~Lucky**

* * *

CHAPTER THREE  
(chapter title – Mimi, part 1)

I took a deep breath as I prepared to go in the water. Like my friend Roger, this was my first Olympics. I was on the Spain swimming team and enjoyed being in the water. I remember growing up in Spain and every summer, I would go to the swimming hole. I would swim for hours, pretending I was a mermaid. Also, when I was in the bathtub at bath time, I would pretend I was some sort of water creature.

Spain was behind Britain in winning medals this year. We usually didn't do very well, which was okay with me.

_I was at the edge of the pool, staring at the other children smiling and splashing in the water. I was a mere child of four and was experiencing the swimming hole for the first time. I had taken swimming lessons and wanted to go swimming at the swimming hole._

"_What are you waiting for?" my mother asked._

"_Nothing." I responded. Without warning, mom picked me up under the arms and tossed me into the shallow water. I surfaced, coughing and sputtering. "Mommy! Why did you do that?"_

"_You're ready to swim – have been since last summer." Mother told me. I got out of the water and when no one was in the deep end, I dove off the diving board and hit the water._

_It seemed like hours when the guard on duty called all of us out of the swimming hole. The sun was going down and soon, the mosquitoes would be coming out. Not that there weren't enough bugs already – flies, bees, horseflies and deerflies were the few insects that hung around. I hated the insects and when I wasn't swimming, I was working in the fields, along with my mother and four sisters. My father and my two brothers worked in a factory. We were extremely poor and I couldn't afford to go to the swimming hole anymore._

_I went to a friend to something called a community pool. It was like our swimming hole, except it was inside and air-conditioned. My friend and I had races all the time. I usually beat her, but she was fine with that. She wasn't competitive and neither was I. I was the gentle and loving person that everyone expected me to be._

_Some odd years later, she went on to be on the Olympic swim team for Spain. I went to Beijing to support her and ended up falling in love with what my friend was competing in. When we got back from Beijing, I went to work training to be in the 2012 Olympics. _

_I went to the community pool every day once my mom and sisters were done working in the fields. I worked on my butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle and any other stroke I could think of. My friend came to watch me swim and told me that I should be on the swim team for Spain, just like she was. She knew an Olympic official that could some see me swim. I suddenly felt butterflies in my stomach – someone would be coming to see ME swim?_

_I worked really hard to perfect my swimming. I had made enough out in the field to buy a set of small weights. Every day, I would do some weight lifting and then go in the pool, or vice versa. I rarely hung out with my other friends, unless it was to go swimming. Fortunately for me, they all loved water and we would play games like Marco Polo, Sharks vs. Minnows or a game I made up called Octopus. _

_Two weeks later, the Olympic official came to see me swim. She called out various strokes and I would quickly transition from one stroke to the next. She was hard on me and had me swim at least twenty laps in the pool. She walked along the edge of the pool while I swam._

_After three hours of me swimming, she had me get out of the pool and wrapped a towel around my trembling shoulders. She smiled at me and said seven words I will never forget._

"_I think you're ready for the Olympics."_

Now, here I am, at the Aquatic Center, ready for my third race of the day. I looked up and saw Roger, Maureen, Collins, Benny and Mark in the stands, holding posters painted the colors of Spain. I smiled at them, put my goggles on, adjusted my water hat and got on the diving platform. I was in lane number 7, my lucky number.

"Divers on your marks." The official said, holding a whistle to his lips. My heart was beating loudly in my chest as I prepared myself to dive into the water. The other girls were already leaning over into the water and I got into position. The official blew the whistle and all eight of us were in the water.

I swam as hard as I could and touched the wall on the other side first. The arena went crazy as I got out of the water. The water was freezing and my coach placed a towel around my trembling shoulders. I had gotten a gold medal, my first. I could add it to my collection of other medals I had won – a silver and bronze. This would mean a lot to my family. They couldn't afford to leave Spain, so I knew they would be watching on the TV in the factory where my father and brothers worked.

I changed out of my suit and into some street clothes. I exited the dressing room and ran into my friend's arms. They all hugged me and told me how proud of me they were.

"Let's go watch April compete." Roger suggested. We all agreed and headed to the archery range.

We found seats together five rows from where the targets were. A mesh net was in front of us. I knew that was to protect us from the arrows, in case something went wrong.

I cheered as I saw April come onto the range; her long red hair was in a braid that ended between her shoulders. In my mind, she reminded me of a redheaded Katniss Everdeen from my favorite book series – The Hunger Games.

We all watched in awe as April hit each target, right on the bulls eye. I could see her channeling all of the famous archers – Susan from The Chronicles of Narnia, Merida from Brave, Robin Hood, Hawkeye, Legolas and Katniss.

April ended up winning the gold medal for that event. We went down to the field to congratulate her.

She walked back onto the field and came over to us, a big smile on her face. I saw her gold medal hanging around her neck and felt happy, because I had also won a gold medal.

"Mimi won a gold medal today, too." Roger told April, seeming to read my thoughts. April smiled at me and said something in Italian. "She says 'congratulations' to you, too."

"Thank you." I thanked April. I felt someone wrap an arm around me as we exited the arena. I looked up and saw Mark smiling down at me. He and I had become good friends – I guess you could say best friends.

We exited the arena and walked over to Union Jack's – a little café off the archery range. We all talked while we ate, the atmosphere light and happy.

It was Mark who suggested we go watch Alison, who was competing in gymnastics. We all agreed and headed to the arena, talking and laughing all the way there.


	4. April, part 1

CHAPTER FOUR  
(chapter title – April, part 1)

Focus. Determination. Hitting the bull's eye. That's all that's running through my head as I hit each target. The spectators were silent as I hit each target. There were four targets and I needed to hit the bull's eye on each in order to win the gold medal. This was my third Olympic games and I had competed in archery in all three games.

I was the only girl in Rome, Italy, who loved archery. Ever since watching the Italian version of Robin Hood I decided that I wanted to be an archer.

At first, my parents and four siblings didn't approve. They thought that it was a man's sport and I wouldn't go far with it. I proved them all wrong by entering in an archery contest and won the grand prize. I think I surprised all of them, because when I came home, I was carrying a new bow and the prize money.

I gave the prize money to my parents and took the bow to the backyard. I put an arrow on and aimed the arrow at a target. It hit the bull's eye right away. From the corner of my eye, I could see my parents and siblings watching me. They had finally accepted that I want to do archery.

_I knew from a young age that I was different. I was the only one in my family that had red hair. Everyone else had dark hair. For a while, I thought I was adopted, but my mother assured me that I came from her and my father. _

_My love of archery came when I was ten-years-old. My family and I gathered in front of our TV to watch Robin Hood. I was amazed at the archery and watched it more than the movie. I thought that Robin Hood was the best movie – and hero – ever._

_I made myself a homemade bow – a stick and a string. I then later replaced the string with a piece of elastic from my mother's sewing bin. She didn't mind._

_I also made myself homemade arrows – sticks that were sharpened at the end. I also made sure that the ends weren't sharp, just in case they hit the family cat, or anyone in my family by accident._

_My parents saw that I had potential and sent me to a city in the far north for me to train. I was eleven-years-old and didn't want to leave my family. I didn't have any choice – they were doing this so that I could follow my dream – be an excellent archer like Robin Hood._

_The woman who ran the training center – Amalie – was the nicest and fairest woman I had ever met. The coach, however, was the complete opposite of Amalie. He would beat us if we missed a target or didn't hit the bull's eye. The worst thing he did to me was slap me across the face when I wasn't paying attention._

_At fifteen, Amalie thought I was ready for an Olympic trial. I didn't think I was ready, being a girl of fifteen. Amalie smiled and gave me three books I would never forget – _The Hunger Games _series. She had told me that it was about a girl my age who was forced to compete to fight to the death. I read the first book and finished it by the following morning._

_Two years later, at the age of seventeen, I competed in my first Olympics. I won two medals – a bronze and a silver. Four years later, I competed in the Beijing Olympics and won two medals – again, a bronze and silver. At the 2012 Olympics, I won a gold and silver. I was happy to have finally won a gold._

Now, I was with some of the friends that I had met at Opening Ceremonies. They were kind, funny and sensitive to others feelings. I felt closer to Roger than any of the others. He was nice to me. I would consider Angel to be my best friend – she was very funny and very sweet.

After Roger told me that Mimi had also won a gold medal, I instantly felt hatred toward the other girl. I can't really explain it – she and I really didn't get along from the start. I ignored her and followed the rest of them out of the arena and to Union Jack's.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go." Mimi said suddenly. She got up from the table and ran off. No one seemed to see her get up and leave.

We decided to go watch Alison compete in gymnastics. As I watched her, I felt my heart swell as she did a perfect dismount off the parallel bars. We sent out the loudest applause there ever was.

She smiled and grinned up at us as she went to see about her medal. She had taken a bronze for her routine, which seemed to be okay with her. Alison and I had been friends since opening ceremonies. We shared a connection that was stronger than friendship.

"You were great, Alison." I told her, my Italian accent thinned with English. She smiled at me and all of us went to Union Jack's to celebrate Mimi and my gold medal wins.

We all toasted each other and ate our sandwiches, all the while talking and laughing.

After Union Jack's, we went to our hotels – all of us, except Roger, were competing the following day and needed our rest. Tomorrow, Joanne, Maureen, Angel, Collins, Mark, Benny, Mimi, Alison and I were competing at the same time, so it would be hard to see everyone compete at the same time.

I ended up finishing my event first, so I went to watch everyone else's. Since the tennis court was closest to the archery range, I went to see Angel. She was playing against a Hungarian woman who was twice the size Angel was. Somehow, Angel ended up winning against the Hungarian woman.

I waited for her to change and we headed over to watch water polo. Our friend, Benny, from Germany was competing, so we decided to watch him.

I was happy to be hanging out with one friend instead of all ten of us. I don't like being in a big group.

"Skype with me after the Olympics?" Angel asked. I nodded, knowing that we would somehow stay in touch once the games were over.

This was the strongest bond I had made with people and I hoped that it would continue long after the games were over.


	5. Alison, part 1

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for reviewing and reading this story. I just wanted to point something out really quick: Part 1 of everyone's chapter will be during the Olympics. Part 2 of everyone's chapters will be closing ceremonies and how they're feeling about leaving their friends.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy!**

**~ Lucky**

* * *

CHAPTER FIVE  
(chapter title – Alison, part 1)

At first, I didn't like the thought of people from around the world invading England. But at the opening ceremonies, I met nine people from around the world that changed my life. We promised to Skype with each other once the Games were over.

This was my first Olympics, like most of my friends. I had been competing in gymnastics since I was two-years-old and loved it. I had several injuries, including a broken ankle, but I didn't let my injuries slow me down.

My favorite gymnastic routine was either the floor exercise or the uneven bars. They were the easiest for me and I felt comfortable when I was doing my floor routine or on the uneven bars. My music choice for my floor routine has always been something from the musical Wicked. Instrumental, of course. The officials felt that the words distracted the gymnasts from their routines.

Before I came along, my mother competed in the Olympics. She won gold medals in all of the events she was entered in and expected my sister and I to do the same.

"_One foot in front of the other. That's it. Just like you're walking on the ground, but only you're on the balance beam." Mum instructed my sister, Anna and I. Anna and I were identical twins. The only way to tell us apart is that I'm right handed and Anna is left handed._

_It was my turn to walk across the balance beam. I did it with ease and went to join my sister._

_We spent the rest of the day working on tumbling and flipping. Mum was our coach and expected us to do well._

_That night, the gymnastic event was on the Olympics. Anna and I watched in awe as the athletes performed at their best._

"_Mummy! There's Samuel!" I exclaimed, pointing as my brother came on the screen. Mum smiled at our oldest brother as he completed a perfect routine. Samuel was eleven years older than Anna and I were, but that didn't bother me from wanting to be a gymnast. _

_The following day, Anna and I were in the gym, doing flips, tumbles and some work on the floor. It was time for me to do some work on the pummel horse – my personal demon. I had fallen off this thing more times than I could count. All I had to do was take a running start, jump off the pummel horse and do a perfect dismount. Sounds easy, right? Not in my wildest dreams did that sound easy._

_Fast forward to when Anna and I are eleven. We were competing in our first meet and I was more scared than I had ever been in my entire life. I put my fear aside and ended up doing extremely well, despite my fear._

_A few years later, I was taking my qualifying exam for the Olympics in 2012. I couldn't go to the Beijing Olympics because of a sprained ankle. Anna was competing in my place. I still went to support my sister, even though my ankle was hurting. Anna ended up winning three bronze, two silvers and two gold's. I couldn't be prouder of my sister._

_Now, here I am, competing in the London Olympics – this was my life's dream, like many other Olympians. I was sad that Anna wasn't on the team – she had knee surgery and needed to fully recover. I could feel her spirit with me, though._

_I ended up taking the bronze and our team took the silver. The Americans got the gold. Oh well, there's always next year._

Now that gymnastics was over for the day, I decided to see what my new friends were doing. I found Roger at Union Jack's – all by himself. I walked over and sat down in front of him. I ordered a sweet tea when the waiter came over.

"Hi." I started.

"Hello."

"What are you doing here, all by yourself?"

"Can't figure out what event to go to."

"Which ones have you been to?"

"Almost all of them – I haven't seen water polo, soccer or basketball yet."

I pulled out a map from my pocket and unfolded it. When it was entirely unfolded, it was the map of the games. I instantly found Union Jack's and looked to where the soccer field was. It didn't look far.

"Want to go see Maureen play soccer?" I asked. Roger nodded. We finished our drinks and paid for them before exiting the café.

As we walked to the soccer field, we caught up with April, Angel, Mimi and Mark. They wanted to see Benny compete in water polo. We turned around and headed for the aquatic center.

We found seats towards the middle of the arena and watched Benny play. They were playing against the United States. The score was 7 to 10, the Americans winning.

After the aquatic center – Benny's team won in the second match – we met up with everyone and went to a restaurant called The Queen's Jewels. We decided to meet there at 6:00.

I was the first one to the restaurant. I sat on a bench outside the restaurant and played Scrabble on my phone.

Joanne and Collins arrived next, followed by Benny, Maureen, Mark, Mimi and Angel. Last to arrive were Roger and April.

We were seated at a large circular table towards the back of the restaurant. I ended up seated next to Joanne on one side and Mark on the other. Mimi was seated across from me.

All of us ended up having a good time and I would be sad to see them leave in ten days. We had all promised to Skype one another, which was important to all of us.

After staying a while at the restaurant, we headed back to the hotels where our teams were staying. Roger, April, Collins and I were at one hotel. Mimi, Joanne, Benny and Maureen were at another one. Angel and Mark were at another one. Luckily, the hotels were close together, so we didn't have far to walk.

As I got ready for bed that night, it hit me that my new friends would be leaving shortly. There was still so much for me to learn from them.

But at least we have Skype, so that's like talking to them in person.

When I retired from the Olympics, I vowed to visit each and every one of my friends, no matter how busy I was.


	6. Joanne, part 1

CHAPTER SIX  
(chapter title – Joanne, part 1)

Like many of my friends, this is my third Olympics. I didn't go to Beijing because of a torn tendon in my knee, so I had to sit it out.

My favorite track event is running. I ran when I was in school and I run with my dog, Nina, at home. Sometimes, I run with my husband and daughter. My daughter, Sofia, is two-years-old, so either my husband, Max, or I push her in the stroller while the other one of us takes Nina.

I have worked very hard to get to London. I have made nine new friends and hope to stay in touch with them. I met them at Opening Ceremonies and they have been there for me from the very start.

My event – the 200-meter is called – startling me out of my thoughts. I say a quick prayer in Austrian and get into my lane – number 5. There are women from the United States, Germany, Austria, Jamaica and Ireland that I am running against. I look to the stands, expecting to see Max, but neither he nor Sofia are there. My heart sinks – they are going to miss the race.

Just as I put my feet on the markers to start, I hear Sofia's voice cheering me on. I smile and concentrate on the race. The whistle is blown and all 7 of us run for our lives. I am in the lead, followed by one of the women from the United States. Everyone else is behind us.

I end up winning the race, with the woman coming in second. She shakes my hand and hugs me. My fellow Austrian runner, Maria, gives me a big hug. She has come in fourth, but that doesn't bother me.

There is photograph upon photograph taken of me, which I do not mind – I am quite used to it.

After the photographs are taken, I go to find Max and Sofia. They give me the biggest hugs as I cry into them. This was my first gold I had won at these Olympics and I feel so proud of myself.

_Growing up in Austria wasn't easy for me. I was the eldest of four children and loved my brother and sisters dearly. My parents owned a fabric store and as soon as we were old enough, we were to help in the store._

_I didn't like working in the store. Between working and my schoolwork, I barely had time to do what I loved best – run. I loved to run. Running was my life. I enjoyed it._

_My parents didn't think that I should run – they said it was something only boys ran. I ignored them and stayed busy with work and schoolwork._

_I passed my classes with flying colors. It was now summertime and there was no work and no school. I would spend hours running – I would get up before the sun and run all around our little village._

_I was seventeen when I met Max. Both of us were competing in a race at school. At first, we didn't like each other, but then, we started to like each other. I don't know what changed us, but we started seeing each other more often._

_We were married when I turned twenty. The ceremony took place after I got home from my first Olympics – I had won one gold, three silver and two bronze. Max couldn'tve been happier for me._

_I became pregnant with Sofia eight weeks later. Every morning, I would come home from my run and spill my guts seated in front of the toilet. Max held my hair back and held my hand as I vomited._

_Nine months later, Sofia Joanne Jefferson was born. She was the most perfect little baby I had ever seen. She had dark skin like I did and had Max's kind blue eyes. _

_I couldn't take my eyes off her for the first month that she was in our lives. I would go on shorter and shorter runs, just so I could spend time with my little girl. Max shook his head at that and told me to go for longer runs. _

_One day, I was out with Sofia while Max worked. She was about a year and a half. I started jogging and she followed behind me on little chubby legs. I laughed and jogged a little faster – so did the little imp. I broke into a slow run and Sofia did, too._

_I told Max this after he came home. He laughed and picked up Sofia, calling her an imp. She laughed and repeated the word._

_I got an invite to go to Beijing. I was so excited. I trained for months in order to prepare. I had bought an iPod and found some music to listen to. I stretched and went on my way._

_I didn't see the tree root in front of me. I tripped over it and landed on my left knee. I tried to get up, but the pain was too intense._

_Fortunately for me, someone happened to be driving by at the time. They got out of their car and had me lay down on the back seat. I held my knee in pain, holding back the tears._

_Max was waiting for me in the kitchen. Sofia wasn't anywhere around, so I figured she was down for her nap. The driver told Max what had happened to me. He frowned and told them to drive me to the hospital. They nodded and drove me there._

_At the hospital, I went straight to the emergency room. The doctor examined my knee and told me that I had a torn tendon in my knee. He wanted me to take it easy and when I was healed enough, he wanted me to try walking around the house. Only when I was completely healed that I could go for a run. I sighed and thanked him._

_Taking it easy was not as easy as I thought it would be. I entertained myself with movies, TV shows and books. Max even played a few board games with me, but I quickly got bored of them._

_Within two months, I was fully recovered and back out running._

_I found a coach, Sandra, who was willing to work with me on improving my running. After months and months and months of training, she sent me to a camp to train for the Olympics. I ran harder and faster than the other girls that were at the camp._

_It came up that the 2012 Olympics were going to be in London. They would only be picking a few of us to go. I was one of the lucky ones that got to go to the Olympics._

Now, here I stood, on a track in front of thousands of people. I waved to them as I walked back to my spot where all of my things were.

I ran four meets in a row, winning two, second in one and third in the other. I saw most of my friends in the audience. The others were either there and I couldn't see them, or if they were watching one of our other friends.

After I changed, I went to see the friends that came to see me. Among them were Roger, Collins, Mimi, Angel, Benny, Maureen and Alison.

"I was thinking we could see Mark." Roger suggested. I noticed that he and Mark had become close. While we were walking around the other day, I thought that I saw them holding hands. It doesn't matter if they like each other or not. What matters is that they're my friends and I would do _anything _for them.

We went to see Mark play. He was playing beach volleyball, along with his friend of many years.

We found seats towards the middle of the court and watched Australia beat Italy – 22 to 12.

To celebrate, Mark took all of us out to eat at The Queen's Jewels. During dinner, I saw Mark and Roger exchange smiles, then hide their faces.

After dinner, we all headed back to our hotels, not knowing what tomorrow would bring.


	7. Mark, part 1

**A/N: Only 3 more chapters of part 1 to go. Hope everyone's enjoying Olympic Hopefuls so far :)**

**~ Lucky**

* * *

CHAPTER SEVEN  
(chapter title – Mark, part 1)

I focused all my energy into my fourth volleyball match at the Olympics. I looked to my partner, Steve, to make sure he was ready. Steve adjusted his dark glasses and gave me the thumbs up sign. I served the ball and both Steve and I went to the net. We played fiercely, as always. We were playing against Iran and these guys were fast, strong and served the ball with such power that I felt that the ball would go right into the cheering crowd.

Like many of my friends, this is my first Olympics and bloody hell, I was scared to be here. If it weren't for the nine other friends I made here, I would be alone. Steve and I met on the first day of training for the 2012 Olympics and had been friends ever since. I wouldn't call us best friends – that would be a girl back home named Sandy. We had been best friends since we were in diapers.

When we got older, we started playing volleyball together. She and I would play against my twin sisters – Cindy and Cathy.

"_Yes! We beat you again!" One of my sisters – Cathy – declared. She and Cindy were twelve and I was ten. We were playing volleyball in the backyard. It was Sandy and I on one side of the net and Cathy and Cindy on the other side. Sandy and I had just lost our third set in a row._

_I looked to the back porch and saw my parents sipping iced tea. They didn't seem to care that the twins were gloating – again._

_A couple years later, I began training with a coach – Brock. Brock had the build of a professional volleyball player. He had the kindness of Sandy as well._

_I spent almost all my time working with Brock to perfect my volleyball playing. He paired me with his son, Alec. At first, Alec and I didn't get along, but the more we practiced together, the more we got along._

_I broke my left wrist two weeks after Alec and I played our final match together. I had to give up volleyball for four months. I was upset that I couldn't play my favorite sport. _

_As soon as I was recovered, it was time to see the Olympic official for the 2012 Olympic trials. Since I didn't have a partner, she suggested that I play with her son, Steve. _

_Steve and I played as a team, passing the ball to each other before serving it over the net. Steve and I were playing against my sisters, who were now twenty-two. They had no interest in participating in the Olympics, which was fine with me._

_Steve and I ended up beating the girls 22-13. Steve and I high-fived each other and exited the court, grinning all the while._

I smiled at Steve and adjusted my glasses. I had got new glasses for the Olympics. They were called Transition Lenses and they were better than regular glasses.

We ended up losing to the men from Iran in our first match. We won the second and third matches easily. I think they were slowing down.

As I looked to the stands, I saw a handful of them sitting near the front of the court, one of which was Roger. I would never admit this out loud, but I have feelings for Roger and I'm sure he has feelings for me, too.

Like magic, Roger's waiting for me as I exited the changing room. He's alone, which is good – more time for us to be together.

"Hi." He greeted me, instantly taking my hand in his. We had been together since Opening Ceremonies. I didn't really care if the others – or other people – saw us together. Apparently, Roger didn't care, either.

"Thanks for coming to see my match, mate." I thanked him, using the Australian word for 'friend' at the end of my sentence. I called everyone mate, but I used it especially for Roger. He smiled at me and I smiled back at him.

"Anytime. I wouldn't miss it for the world." He told me.

"How are your horses?" I asked him as we headed to the stables. There weren't any events that we wanted to see, so we would go to the stables then go to lunch.

"They're fine. If we weren't at the Olympics, we could ride them." Roger told me.

"Can I come visit you in America and ride them, then?" I inquired. Roger turned and smiled at me, giving me a quick peck on the cheek.

"Of course. You're welcome anytime." He told me, giving my hand another squeeze. He was one of the few openly gay Olympians and it didn't bother me – or him – at all. I was also openly gay and would never admit it out loud.

After a while of seeing the horses, we went to Union Jack's for lunch. Roger sat across the table from me so I could see him better.

We finished lunch and walked around the grounds. We hadn't done much sightseeing since being here, so we decided to do some of that. We went to the London Eye, Buckingham Palace and went on a tour of Big Ben and Parliament.

"You seen the movie _The Iron Lady_?" I asked Roger, my voice just above a whisper.

"Yeah. It was pretty good." He answered, holding my hand.

After our visit to Parliament, we went to the church where William and Kate were married. That got boring, so we went back to the London Eye. On our way back, we ran into a group of tourists that wanted their picture taken with Roger, then me. Roger smiled as he signed autographs for the tourists. They came over to me and gathered around me. I smiled while Roger took the picture. I also signed autographs for them. They thanked us and walked off, their voices carrying over – they couldn't believe that they had met two men competing in the Olympics.

Two hours later, Roger was hungry, so we went to The Queen's Jewels for dinner. As we waited for our table, I saw some familiar faces in the crowd.

"Mark! Roger! Come join us!" Alison's voice broke through the silent chatter of the restaurant patrons. We smiled and walked over, hand-in-hand. We sat next to each other as Alison, Benny and Joanne moved over. I didn't see the others, but that was okay with me.

We had a great time at dinner – joking and laughing the whole time.

"What are you guys gonna do tomorrow?" Alison inquired.

"Benny's playing for the gold tomorrow, so I thought we could go support him." I said before Roger could say anything.

"That sounds like a great idea." Roger told me. I looked over and smiled at him.

After dinner, all of us went back to our hotel rooms, wanting a good night's sleep.


End file.
